BUDAPEST, Hungary – Hungary's prime minister has told an international assembly of Jews that his government has declared "zero tolerance" on anti-Semitism.

Addressing the opening session of the World Jewish Congress, Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Sunday acknowledged that anti-Semitism was on the rise both in Europe and Hungary, attributing it partly to the economic crisis affecting the region.

He said that anti-Semitism "is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated."

Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, asked Orban to confront "dark forces" such as the far-right Jobbik party, whose politicians in parliament have made numerous anti-Semitic statements.

Some 550,000 Hungarian Jews were killed during the Holocaust, while the around 100,000 living here now make up the largest Jewish community in Eastern Europe.